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THE BEST IN ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL RECRUITING!

Class of 2009 Pre-Summer Player Assessments: North Suburbs
by Pat Benninger
June 23, 2007

Jack Cooley 6’8” 230 lbs PF – A big bodied post player with good potential.  Cooley is very strong and is a space eater inside.  He is a good rebounder and is good at getting put backs.  Athleticism and footspeed are two things that Jack lacks.  If he can improve those two assets of his game, he will be able to play in a very solid collegiate program.  Playing with the Rising Stars this past spring has brought more exposure to him as a player, however, he is one of the more underrated posts in his respective class.

Nik Garcia 6’5” 175 lbs SG – Garcia is very long.  He has a very good perimeter game, highlighted by his fantastic outside shooting ability.  Nik has the ability to put points on the board in a hurry when shooting from beyond the arch.  He handles the ball well and was very good during his sophomore season at Niles West.  Garcia tends to struggle when defending more athletic players.  He doesn’t have a lot of footspeed which will affect him on the collegiate level but as of now his length has helped him a great deal.  It seems as if he will be a solid mid major level player.

Brandon Paul 6’3” 170 lbs SG – Paul was introduced to the world as one of the state’s best sophomores after a solid performance at the 2006 MidStateHoops.com Final Run Super Showcase.  His reputation then skyrocketed even more after a strong sophomore campaign with Warren Township HS.  He’s very long and can score the ball.  He’s a capable shooter and also good at getting to the basket.  He plays hard and is solid on the defensive end.  Many have labeled Brandon as the class’ “Iman Shumpert”.  Xavier has shown high interest in the skilled guard while Illinois, Texas, USC, and Washington State are among those pursuing him.  He has been competing on the AAU circuit with Team NLP and has also participated in a few events with the Illinois Blazers.

Tyler Ponticelli 6’6” 215 lbs F – Ponticelli made a name for himself as a freshman playing alongside current Duke sophomore, Jon Scheyer.  He’s a very fundamentally sound forward who is learning the perimeter game.  He has good size and doesn’t force a lot.  Last season Tyler struggled a bit as he became the main offensive weapon and teams began focusing on him.  He doesn’t have a lot of foot speed or athleticism but he does have a chance to be a player at the lower Division I level.

David Smith 6’3” 175 lbs G – An athletic guard with very long arms.  Smith has had great success during his first two seasons of high school basketball.  He’s a very active player and a hard worker on the floor.  He gets to the basket well and creates well for himself and teammates.  He has improved his outside shot and is capable of going on big time scoring runs.  He has seen attention from a ton of high major programs and it will be interesting to see where he ends up.  David is certainly one of the more overlooked players in his class on both the statewide and national scale.

Class of 2009 Pre-Summer Player Assessments: South Suburbs
Class of 2009 Pre-Summer Player Assessments: Quad Cities
Class of 2009 Pre-Summer Player Assessments: Central Illinois
Class of 2009 Pre-Summer Player Assessments: Chicago